Creative techniques to strategically attract audiences.

How do I make my video go viral?

Do you want to produce a viral video? In other words, do you want to produce and release a video for your brand that absolutely goes viral? You of course wish your video goes viral because of the tons of views that would generate. So you want to know?

2) A production budget in line with the polish you expect the video to require.

3) A flawless distribution method.

There’s only one problem with this formula… Many videos use quite the opposite of these three ingredients, and yet they still go viral.

In other words, whatever road you take to get to the holy grail, you’re competing against countless other videos that took a completely different road. In some instances, these different roads were the exact reason why these videos went viral. Sound unfair?

The truth is (and here is where I should probably apologize if the title seems misleading), trying to guess what makes something go viral is as difficult as guessing what will be on the front page of Reddit tomorrow morning. Come to think of it, it’s exactly the same thing…

Predicting a general tendency with people is something anybody in marketing attains to do, but when it comes to a specific, pin-pointed action, this is nearly impossible.

We can usually control certain aspects of our content:

Its quality (relative to its purpose and expected requirement)

The time/money costs of production

Its relevance to a certain audience

Its originality/uniqueness.

Its distribution channels

But I’ll tell you, even if that list seems a bit on the short end to you, each and every one of them matters a whole lot.

Will those aspects guarantee your video goes viral? Absolutely not. However, if you reach towards a level of excellence in all of those areas, you will at least ensure your piece will rise above the baseline of mediocrity.

Of course, a mediocre video may still go viral. But you probably don’t want your brand to be known because of a mediocre viral video, so why the envy?

So in the end, the question shouldn’t be “how do I make my video go viral?” but rather, “what is the best way to communicate my message to the greatest number of people likely interested?”

Alex Rodríguez develops high-end digital marketing campaigns that transform brands and attract business. He is the author of Digital BACON. His clientele has run the gamut from top-level advertising agencies and Fortune500 corporations, through national broadcast networks, to award-winning production firms. He heads up the team at YMMY Marketing. Connect with Alex via LinkedIn or Twitter